Big Daddy
Big Daddies are beings who have had their skin and organs directly grafted into atmospheric diving suits, and are armed with either a rivet gun or heavy drill. Though they make low-pitched groaning noises, Big Daddies have no voice actor attributed to them. They roam the underwater dystopian city of Rapture, mentally conditioned to protect the Little Sisters - little girls that harvest a substance called ADAM from corpses - thanks to a series of plasmids stripping them of their humanity and free will, The player's interactions with Big Daddies and Little Sisters have been described by developer Ken Levine as the cornerstone of the game, due to the player's need for ADAM in order to gain strength in the game.Levine, Ken (2007-04-10). Episode Four: The Evolution of BioShock. 2K Games. Retrieved on 2008-12-30 The protagonist of the upcoming BioShock 2 is said to be the first Big Daddy ever created. Conception and design Conceived of early on as a man encased in a diving suit, the Big Daddy was designed to have "that hulking metal feel of an underwater protector, so solid not even a shotgun blast could knock him off his feet." While the concept remained the same of an AI character that protected the "gatherer" AI characters in the title,Gillen, Kieron (2007-08-31). Irrational's Big Daddy - Ken Levine. Computer and Video Games/''PC Gamer. Retrieved on 2008-12-30Edwards, Tim (2007-06-08). PC Preview: Bioshock. ''Computer and Video Games/''PC Gamer. Retrieved on 2008-12-30 many ideas were considered for their mobility and execution, including a wheelchair mounted version.BioShock: Breaking the Mold (PDF). 2K Games. pp. 33-34. Retrieved on 2008-12-30 As the designs for the individual types evolved, intricate details of the actual diving suit were worked out piece by piece, using the concept that the suits would be constructed from salvaged parts of the city.Big Daddy Art Progression. 2K Games. Retrieved on 2008-12-30 Developer Ken Levine noted that with the concept of the gatherers as little girls, it allowed the team to explore the protector role of the character and demonstrate it in a way to appeal to a real-world relationship for the player. Two versions of the Big Daddy are present in ''BioShock: the 'Rosie' and the 'Bouncer'. Initial drafts of the Rosie model featured it encased in a light atmospheric diving suit with a singular hole for viewing through the helmet, as well as missing its left forearm and hand, replaced with a hook and pulley supported by cables attached to the stump.BioShock: Breaking the Mold (PDF). 2K Games. p. 39. Retrieved on 2008-12-30 Later designs restored the arm, adding a rivet gun, heavy oxygen tanks mounted on both shoulders and a squid-like tentacle extending from each shoulder. The completed design remained similar, removing the tentacles and reducing the oxygen tanks to a singular one positioned on its back, angled towards its right shoulder. The Rosie's rivet gun itself went through progressive design improvements, with the intent of making it "more fleshed out and threatening". The Bouncer model of Big Daddy featured it encased in a heavier diving suit than the Rosie, with the helmet more heavily armored and having smaller but multiple holes for viewing. Several ideas were considered for weaponry, originally consisting of a wrist mounted fan-blade on the right arm and a hand-held double hook in the left hand. They were replaced by hand mounted grinders attached to each arm and an added oxygen tank angled over the left shoulder.BioShock: Breaking the Mold (PDF). 2K Games. p. 37. Retrieved on 2008-12-30 The weaponry was changed in the finalized design changed to a heavy drill over the right hand, with an engine and exhaust for it positioned over the right shoulder. A third model, dubbed "Slow Pro FUM" by the development team, was excluded from the game. Standing for "slow-moving, projectile-shooting, f'ed-up-melee", this Big Daddy was intended as a slow, ranged type that would center itself and fire a heavy projectile at enemies via a large arm-mounted cannon. Despite being designed for range, the developers noted its melee attacks were intended to be just as powerful. In an interview with GameTrailers's "Bonus Round", BioShock designers Bill Gardner and Hogarth De La Plante stated it as an aspect cut from the game late in development, and one they would have most liked to have kept out of all the cut content for the title.Bonus Round: Episode 10, part 2. GameTrailers. Retrieved on 2008-12-30 BioShock 2 introduces him with a different name and alterations, the 'Rumbler' a new Big Daddy that can fire rockets and deploy mini-turrets around the area. In BioShock 2, players are given control of the "first" Big Daddy, the prototype that later versions were modeled after. The designs wanted it to have a rough-draft appearance and look like a "work in progress", while incorporating elements of the later models. As a result, several concepts were considered, combining the parts of the Rosie and Bouncer models, before the developers settled on an appearance more akin to the former, but retaining the heavy drill of the latter. In video games Introduced to the player through a cutscene early on in the game, the Big Daddies are mentally conditioned armed escorts to the Little Sisters, little girls who gather ADAM from corpses. The girls in turn interact with the Big Daddy, referring to it as "Mr. Bubbles" as they talk or sing to it gently, and mourn for them if they die. In order to gain higher level powers, the player must kill the Big Daddy escort and recover the ADAM from the Little Sister.Robinson, Andrew (2007-06-23). Interview: Bioshock. Computer and Video Games. Retrieved on 2008-12-30. Outside of protecting Little Sisters they rarely interact with anything else. They are incapable of speech and can only communicate via groans and grunts and roars. If a Big Daddy not escorting a Little Sister comes across the player character, he will not attack unprovoked. This also goes for the non-player Splicer enemies. However, if either the player or a Splicer gets too close to a Little Sister, the Big Daddy will attack. Big Daddies can be hypnotised into protecting you with the Hypnotise Big Daddy plasmid. The lights on the helmet dictate their moods: Yellow indicates that the Big Daddy is indifferent to the player's presence, Red indicates rage towards the player, and green indicates that the Big Daddy is hypnotised and friendly towards the player. In the to be released game BioShock 2, the player takes upon the role of the very first Big Daddy, regaining both rational mind and free will. Unlike the subsequent versions of Big Daddies, he is both faster and able to use Plasmids. Despite minor alterations and additional features, this playable prototype looks similar to the Rosie model, as seen in the recently released demo gameplay. Unlike in the previous game, Little Sisters will not run away from the player when they meet and instead greet them, able to be "Adopted" to collect ADAM or "Harvested" to collect greater amounts of ADAM at the cost of their lives.Plante, Chris (2009-04-23). Big Sister Not Central Villain of BioShock 2. UGO.com. Retrieved 2009-04-25 Cultural impact Promotion and merchandise To promote BioShock, 2K Games released a six inch tall immobile Big Daddy figurine packaged with the limited edition release of the game.Bishop, Stuart (2007-06-14). Bioshock Limited Edition figurine revealed. Computer and Video Games/''PC Gamer. Retrieved on 2008-12-30 However, many of the figures arrived broken, resulting in 2K Games announcing in November 2007 that replacement figurines would be distributed, accompanied with a printed artbook for the title.Replacement Big Daddy figurines, art book incoming for registered gamers. Ars Technica. Retrieved on 2008-12-30 Critical reception The ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review described the Big Daddy as "a freight train of a man-turned-monster", noting the moral dilemma of attempting to fight it or not.Severs, Jessica (2007-09-13). Personal choices put 'BioShock' in its own league. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved on 2008-12-26 PC Gamer called them "bizarre and compelling to watch" and added "I've never seen anything in a game look so angry as a Big Daddy when provoked."Francis, Tom (2007-08-16). Review: Bioshock. Computer and Video Games/''PC Gamer. Retrieved on 2008-12-30 1UP.com called it "the soul of BioShock" and its "moral centerpiece", adding "He doesn't choose to fight you; you have to make the decision to terminate him...You may fear him, but you have no reason to hate the Big Daddy. When he's defending a Sister from a pack of splicers, it's hard not to root for his rivet gun. And when he bends to one knee to allow her to retreat to the safety of her hiding hole in the wall, it's a legitimately touching moment."Pfister, Adam (2007-08-16). BioShock Review. 1UP.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-26 IGN described the Big Daddy as one of their favorite video game monsters of all time,Schedeen, Jesse (2008-10-31). Monsters in Gaming. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-12-26 and in another article stated "Few enemies inspire such a combination of wonderment and sheer terror in gamers as the colossal Big Daddy".Schedeen, Jesse (2008-10-15). Players Wanted: Ultimate Fighting Game, Part 2. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-12-29 In an article discussing the character in terms of a ''BioShock film, editors Phil Pirrello and Christopher Monfette attributed IGN's high review score for the game to the character, and stated "No character so fresh out of the gate claimed iconic status as quickly as BioShock's baddie did...Our hero is only as good as our villain. Lucky for the filmmakers, they have themselves a potentially great one in Big Daddy."Pirrello, Phil and Monfette, Christopher (2008-05-12). Big Screen Big Daddy. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-12-29 Despite their praise, in a later article they were ranked by readers as the eighth most overrated video game characters, which IGN attributed to their feeling that as they game progressed the Big Daddy became less an imposing threat, and the ability to disguise oneself as a Big Daddy at the end of BioShock removed the "scary image" the character held for players. In 2007, IGN featured the character in their "Badasssss!" awards,IGN Staff (2007-12-05). Stars' 2007 Badasssss! Awards! Continue. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-12-26 in which he took third place, directly below Master Chief and Samus Aran.Pirrello, Phil and Collura, Scott (2007-12-12). 2007 Sweet Badasssss! Awards. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-12-29 X-Play placed it at number three on their "Top 10 Greatest Videogame Monsters of All Time" list, describing it as "Blending lightning quickness and murderous tenacity, in an outfit that implies a tortured dive to Hell."Sessler, Adam and Webb, Morgan (2007-11-02). Top 10 Greatest Videogame Monsters part 1. G4. Retrieved on 2008-12-31 GameDaily listed the character as one of their "Top 25" scariest monsters in video gaming, placing it at number three on their list.Top 25 Scariest Video Game Monsters. GameDaily. Retrieved on 2008-12-26 Later articles named his role as the protector of the Little Sisters as one of the greatest duos in video games,Best Gaming Duos. GameDaily. Retrieved on 2008-12-26 and additionally ranked the Big Daddy as the best non-boss enemy in a video game, stating "He's one bad mother that we wouldn't want to run into in an underwater city, or anywhere, for that matter."Top 25 Enemies of All Time. GameDaily. Retrieved on 2008-12-26 References External links Big Daddy Art Progression courtesy of 2K Games. Category:BioShock characters Category:Fictional cyborgs Category:First-person shooter creatures Category:Characters